This post explores situational leadership and builds on Part 1 "Leadership Styles - Which Are You?" Part 2 of our leadership series explores how and when to use some of these leadership styles.
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| Don't get trapped in one leadership style - branch out and flex your style |
What is Situational
Leadership?
Situational leadership theory
was developed by Paul Hersey and Ken Blanchard in the 1970’s, entitled "Life
Cycle Theory of Leadership” and is often known as Hersey and Blanchard’s
situational leadership. The following blog post is based on their research.
So what is it all about?
-
In a nutshell Hersey &
Blanchard believed that successful leaders are flexible and adapt their
leadership style according to the “development maturity” of the individual
or group they are leading.
- Leadership approach also varies
according to the task that needs to be accomplished.
- They identified four
leadership styles and four development maturity levels.
Leadership
Styles:
They identified four main leadership behaviours:
- L1: Telling/Directing - is characterised by
one-way communication in which the leader defines the roles of the
individual or group and provides the what, how, why, when and where to do
the task.
- L2: Selling/Coaching - while the leader is
still providing the direction, he or she is now using two-way
communication and providing the required support to ensure engagement and
buy-in.
- L3: Participating/Supporting - shared
decision-making about how the task is to be accomplished, less task
focused and more relationship based.
- L4: Delegating - the leader is still
involved in the decision making and monitors progress, but passes the
responsibility for delivery to the individual or group.
Development Maturity
levels:
- In
summary there are 4 development maturity levels D1 – D4, as described below.
- Development
maturity levels are also task-specific, in that an individual might be skilled,
confident and motivated in their job (D4), but could have a development maturity
level of D1 when asked to perform a task requiring skills and competencies they
don’t yet have.
High
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Moderate
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Low
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D4
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D3
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D2
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D1
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Very capable and confident:
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Capable but unwilling:
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Unable but willing:
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Unable and insecure:
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· They are
experienced at the task, with high confidence and strong skills. They are comfortable
with their own ability to do it well.
· They are able and willing to not only do the
task, but to take responsibility for the task.
· They are
capable of working autonomously
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· They are
experienced and able to do the task but lack the confidence or the
willingness to take on responsibility.
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·
They are unable to take on
responsibility for the task.
·
However, they are willing to
work at the task but don’t have the skills to complete it successfully.
·
They are a novice but
enthusiastic.
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·
They still lack the specific
knowledge, skills or confidence required for the task.
·
They are unable and
unwilling to do or to take responsibility for the task. ("The honeymoon is over")
· They often
need to be pushed to take the task on
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Most appropriate leadership
style to adopt
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Delegating
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Participating/Supporting
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Selling/Coaching
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Telling/Directing
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Examples
to illustrate the point:
Example 1
– Not tailoring your leadership style to match the development maturity of your team:
You are asked to take on new responsibilities, to
ensure a business critical project delivers on time. In the short-term your
work will be covered by an experienced development maturity (D4) level
colleague. He or she is very capable, confident and motivated and relishes the
stretch and challenge that covering your portfolio will provide.
However you have high control needs and so provide
your colleague with detailed “to do” lists and instructions, in-line with someone
of development maturity level D1 capability. You behave in the L1 Telling/Directing leadership style, when what is actually required is the
L4 Delegating leadership style.
Outcome:
The work gets completed to the required standard
but your colleague does not feel trusted, respected or empowered. Your working
relationship suffers and what was previously a high relationship approach now
deteriorates
Example 2
– Effective flexing of your leadership style to develop capability in others:
You are promoted to a managerial position, which
involves leading and managing a new team. The team is highly motivated and broadly
capable (in line with D3 capability). You are reassured that they appear to
have the required inherent capability, but sometimes lack the confidence to
deliver.
You decide to flex your leadership style and adopt
the L3 Participating/Supporting leadership style. You coach the team through the
business objectives, building a relationship with them and allowing them to
participate in the decision making process.
Outcome:
The team relationship with you continues to grow
and strengthen, business goals are successfully delivered and achieved. Your
team is developed through your coaching approach and you build a culture of
collaborative working. You are recognised as valuing the opinions of your team.
